Not Today, Not Tomorrow
by BettyHT
Summary: The representative of an eastern mining corporation wants the Ponderosa for its timber as well as the gold and silver it might contain. He tries to put pressure on the family to force the deal when Ben says no to his offer, but he didn't know what he was going to be facing once he made those Cartwrights upset. Follows the No Alibi and Nothing In My Stocking stories.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Yesterday had been so much more pleasant for Adam. Before dawn, he had awakened at his wife's side and spent some time reminding her how much he enjoyed her sweet company. Their son preferred getting up with the sun so they had hurried through their lovemaking and had been resting in each other's arms when that bunch of black curls and hazel eyes had popped up beside their bed asking if Papa could help him. It was very nice not having to deal with diapers, but the little boy who wasn't three years old yet needed help doing the necessary things. His father was his preferred helper, and in fact, his father was his preferred companion for everything, and whenever possible, Gabriel was at his side for chores or when Adam needed to take a ride into town for supplies or for business meetings.

The pleasant morning had later been interrupted by a decidedly unpleasant meeting with Wendell Burnside who represented an eastern mining corporation that was doing its best to buy into the California and Nevada mines. They had gotten options on a number of properties but wouldn't be able to operate any of them profitably without adequate timber for shoring and for railroad spurs to connect the mines to the main railroad lines. There was also probably significant silver and gold deposits on the same land. They had been sending correspondence to the Ponderosa for months and had finally resorted to sending a representative. Wendell Burnside was a disagreeable man with an obvious disdain for all of them. He stood there resplendent in the latest fashion and must have forced himself not to say something about how Ben Cartwright dressed for a business meeting. Adam was dressed in his usual black. They stood by Ben's desk in his office as Gabriel and Isaiah played out in the main room as their mothers sat with Rosalind and did sewing generally making sure that the boys engaged in nothing dangerous or damaging. Burnside found the whole situation unprofessional but did his best to hide his contempt. It wasn't enough. Ben and Adam could tell exactly how he felt by what he said. "If you accept our offer for your Ponderosa, you will have enough money to move to a city like San Francisco and live in civilization again. Surely you would want your grandsons or your sons to have the opportunity to get an education and pursue a career suitable for one with such wealth."

"We have all the resources that we could need right here, and we can provide any education that anyone needs. Money is not what we want most. We have enough of that, and we can work for more." Ben didn't like the man's attitude at all. Adam was even angrier, and the man's next words got him escorted out of the house. His veiled threat was all too obvious.

"You and your family are not safe here. You have ladies and small boys who are very vulnerable. What would you do if their lives were at risk? Surely you would be willing to give up your wilderness empire to see them safely ensconced in a more appropriate dwelling."

Ben had said that their meeting was over, but Adam physically ended it by taking Burnside by the arm and moving him to the door and outside without letting the children know that there was any kind of trouble. What he had actually wanted to do was plant his fist deep in the man's mouth, but he knew that was the wrong thing to do with the children and the ladies there. Once he had Burnside outside of the house, he was direct.

"Never return here or you'll be treated as a trespasser. We have every reason to shoot you on sight. You have insulted and threatened my family. Never try that again or carry a pistol because you'll need one. Now get off the Ponderosa and stay off."

"You will regret what you've done. I work for a powerful corporation with resources you couldn't begin to imagine. You have made a very great error in treating Wendell Llewellyn Burnside with such discourtesy. I'll be back when I own this and I own you." With that, Burnside had his driver turn his carriage and leave.

Ben walked up beside Adam. "Do you think it was wise to anger him that much?"

"Pa, he's a thug dressed as a gentleman. He thinks that fine clothes and manners make the man, but he's rotten inside. I may have forced his hand, but sooner or later, with our refusing to sell, it was going to get nasty. Perhaps by rushing him into it, he'll make some mistakes that we can use."

"Even a rabid dog needs to be treated with due respect for how dangerous it can be. He made a rather pointed reference to the ladies and the boys being in peril. I'm going to talk with Candy and let him know what's going on. We may need to set a perimeter guard around the house. Will you tell the ladies?"

Adam took a deep breath with that one. Zona was gradually becoming accustomed to the dangers and the problems of living in the Sierras on a ranch. However this kind of threat was something new to her although the Cartwrights had encountered such men before Burnside. Adam nodded and went inside to tell his wife and sisters-in-law about the latest problem and that they probably needed to stick close to the main house.

"Candy will set up guards and lookouts. We'll have to hire a few more hands to help with the cattle so that the most trusted men can help us keep all of you safe."

"Adam, do you think that Isaiah and me should move on over here to the big house? Hoss is gone all day, and I guess I'd feel a lot better knowing Isaiah was here."

"Bess, I was going to suggest that. We'll set things up just like we do for a holiday when everyone is in the house. Now, Bess I know you can shoot and Zona is learning, but Rosalind, can you shoot?"

"Not very well yet. I had never fired anything before I met Joe but he has been doing his best to teach me. I can fire a rifle and a shotgun, but I can't hit anything with a pistol."

"That's good, but for now, let's have you in charge of the boys if anything happens. The alcove where Pa used to have his desk is probably the safest spot to take them. Gabriel and Isaiah are old enough to take orders so be firm with them. Bess, you're the best shot among the ladies so you do whatever you think is best to help out if there's trouble, and you should probably carry that pocket pistol you have. Zona, the best idea for you would be to get the shotgun and stand guard over the boys and Rosalind. I have a small pocket pistol that Zona can carry, and I think Joe has a small derringer that fires three or four barrels at once which would be good for Rosalind to use. We'll keep some extra shells for the shotgun high on the shelf over there. All right, is that plan acceptable to all of you?"

"Are you going to be safe?" Zona was scared again. There had been so many things that she had to learn to overcome and her fear for her husband's safety was one she had not managed yet.

"Burnside made a threat that indicated that the ladies and the boys could be a target. One of us will always be here. When Hoss and Joe get back, they will work it out with Pa. I have a meeting in Carson City tomorrow so I'll be gone, but I'll be back by tomorrow night. I hate to have to go with this threat hanging over us, but that contract is very important to our future."

"I don't want you to go."

"What? Another dream?"

"No, and don't make fun of me. This is very serious. Your son needs his father, I need you, and you shouldn't be taking risks like this."

"So, you would rather I would send one of my brothers and let them take the risk?"

"No, of course not, but, oh, I don't know. It's just so frightening to live out here with all the dangers and now men are threatening us too."

"I'll be careful. I'll ride there so it will be faster, and I won't have to go into town and face Burnside. I'll pack my good suit and get a room in Carson City. Then I'll be back as soon as I can finish that meeting and get on the road back here. It won't be any later than evening tomorrow. All right?"

"Why don't you have someone go with you?"

"Everyone is busy. Burnside made the threat this morning. It will take him some time to come up with a plan and I should be back before he can put anything into motion. I'll be fine."

Walking into the house, Ben got a little chill hearing those words. He didn't know why, but somehow it didn't sound fine. He had no logical reason to feel that way so he said nothing. He noted that Adam gathered up all the legal papers he would need before he went to his room to pack a bag. He said goodbye to Zona and to Gabriel before going to the stable to saddle a horse. When he walked out of the stable, Zona was on the porch with Gabriel. They waved goodbye as he left. Zona knew she couldn't go to him because Gabriel would want to go with his father, but she wished she could. She needed the reassurance of those muscular arms holding her. Instead, Ben ushered her back inside saying they didn't know what Burnside was planning.

Later in town, Burnside was just starting to plan what he was going to do. He had never expected to be denied, and he was furious that someone he considered so beneath him had forcefully made him leave. "He touched me. He grabbed my arm and literally dragged me from the room. No man can be allowed to do that, and certainly that backwoods cretin has to be taught a lesson."

"Do you want me to have someone shoot him?"

"Oh, no, that would simply stir up too much trouble among the yokels. No, he's going to pay, and we're going to use it to make his father hand over the Ponderosa to us. I'll pay what I first offered him. It's worth a lot more, but at least it won't seem like I know too much. Once his precious first-born is presumed dead, we'll take advantage of his grief." Thinking about it, Burnside had more to consider. Finally with a big grin, he told Baxter. "But then perhaps, we can use that too. Ah, now I have a plan in mind that is exquisite. Let me work out the details. You and your men are going to have a job to do. It may take a few days, but it is elegant in its simplicity."

"Sure thing, Boss. I'll tell them not to do any drinking. We'll be ready to go tomorrow."

"I need a few of them to go tonight. Pick the three best hunters among them and bring them back here by four. Then after we send them on their way, I have need of the others so have them here immediately thereafter. I have a plan, and the preliminary work needs to be done tonight."

By late that night, there was a calf staked out for predators on the Ponderosa and a tall, dark, drunk with black hair was sleeping off his overindulgence on a played out mine that Burnside had investigated for investment but rejected. All that Burnside needed then for the rest of his plan was for his men to abduct Adam Cartwright. He didn't know he had gone to Carson City, but that turned out to make the next step of the plan work even better than expected. He had thought it might take days to be able to take him but by late the next day, Baxter rode into town to say they had him. Burnside was elated.

"All right, carry on with the rest of the plan. By this time tomorrow, Ben Cartwright won't be able to see straight with all the tears as his heir apparent is lost."

Burnside made sure that all of that day and night, he was very visible in town going to restaurants, shopping, and meeting with the corporate lawyer. He wanted to be sure that he had plenty of alibi witnesses. Baxter returned at dawn to say the deeds were done, and all that they needed to do was for the body to be found.

"You sure that they will think it's him?"

"Just like you said, we shot him in the face with a shotgun after we had him dressed in all them Cartwright clothes, and we waited until that cougar came back for what was left of the calf. The body was laying right where the calf had been. It was an awful thing to watch, but you were right. Nobody would recognize their own son after a predator is done with the body."

"And Cartwright?"

"He never saw it coming. He's in that mine just like you said to leave him. He ain't got no idea what's going on. We left him a bucket of water just like you said. He won't die unless he gets too cold. It gets darn cold out there at night; colder than I ever thought it would be."

Hours earlier, that was how Adam found himself left naked and chained to an old ore cart in an abandoned mine with a bucket of water and nothing else. He was shivering and worried about what the night might bring. There was a strong smell of scat in the cave leading him to believe that some predator used it regularly. He could only hope it wouldn't be using it that night. He wondered what his family would do when he didn't return and hoped they would come looking immediately the next morning. He hoped he could manage until then. He found a broken pickaxe and decided that he could use the handle and the head as weapons if necessary. Turning the ore cart on its side proved to be a major task, but once he lined the bottom side of it with plant debris that had blown into the mine, he had a reasonably sheltered place to sleep. He was still getting cold so occasionally he got up and used the pickaxe head as a weight for exercising. Once he was warm enough by exertion, he rested in the ore cart. He had heard what sounded like a large animal approach the mine during the night and had found that banging the pickaxe head against the ore cart was enough to convince the animal to go elsewhere. He was determined to get home to his wife and son.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"He should have been back by now. He said he would be back by evening, and it's dark already. Something must have happened to him." Zona was scared. Adam had promised to be back, and he wasn't. With the threat against the family, she was very worried that Adam had been targeted. Adam kept his promises unless somebody prevented him from doing so. That he had not kept the promise to be home and hadn't send word was very frightening.

"Zona, Adam probably had to spend more time working on those contracts than he thought. He may have stayed in Carson, or he headed for home but had to camp as it got dark." Ben did his best to reassure Zona, but he was very worried. It wasn't like Adam not to send word knowing that his wife and the rest of the family would worry. He would have known by midday if he wasn't going to be able to make it home. That would have been plenty of time for him to send a wire and have it delivered. Ben caught Hoss' eye and then Joe's. He could tell they were thinking the same thing, but now it was dark. There was nothing they could do until dawn.

Later, Bess and Hoss were talking about Adam not returning home. Hoss was sure that Adam was all right. "I think I'd know if anything really bad had happened. I feel a little jittery like a new born colt, but I'm not scared. We'll find him and bring him home."

"You think he's in trouble though?"

"I think something happened that he wasn't expecting, and I think it happened after he left Carson or he woulda sent a telegram. That's the part that worries me. He's out there all alone tonight, and there's nothing we can do about it."

The two embraced as they rested in bed, but neither one fell asleep for quite a while. Bess kept hearing sounds and wondering what they were. Hoss worried that not one of those sounds was his brother riding into the yard. He knew that after Adam had made that promise to Zona, he would have done anything he could to make it come true. He wouldn't camp out as their father had suggested because he would have known how upset that would make his wife. No, Hoss was sure that something had happened but couldn't imagine what it could be. Joe was having the same thoughts as he sat by the window in his room. He remembered the times as a boy that he had gone out on that roof and been joined by Adam who taught him the constellations just as their father had taught Adam. He knew Adam never forgot anything, so he would have done his best to make sure his promise to his wife was kept. Like Hoss, he knew something had happened, but he feared the worst. Rosalind got out of bed and came to stand behind him and massage his neck and shoulders.

"You're very tense. I thought you told Zona that Adam could handle anything that anybody threw at him and that he would be fine." She waited while Joe continued to be silent and stare out the window. "But you don't believe that, do you. You think something terrible happened."

Joe turned and pulled Rosalind into his lap. Married less than two years, they had found they could confide anything to the other. There was no judgment and no telling tales. He pulled his wife close and whispered in her ear. "I'm scared. Something seems to be telling me that this is bad, very bad. I can't seem to relax."

"Joe, you need some sleep if you're going to be any help to Adam tomorrow. Come to bed. I'll rub your back until you fall asleep or my arm wears out." Joe had to smile a little at her concern for him. He knew she would do that too. He finally did get some sleep and had to be awakened the next morning when it was time to get up.

After a quick breakfast before the sun rose, Hoss and Joe rode out at the first hint of dawn. Their early departure told Zona that they were just as scared as she was. They weren't waiting to see if Adam arrived home. Taking the route they thought Adam would be using, it took only two hours to see vultures circling. The two brothers kicked their horses into a gallop until they spotted the black clad body on the ground and a cougar running away at their approach. Almost unwilling to go forward, Hoss forced himself with Joe following behind. There was no need to check the body for signs of life. The face was blown away and the body had been savaged by the cougar. Adam's black vest, gun belt, and hat were relatively undamaged as were his boots. Joe slid from his horse dropping to his knees and retching until he had nothing left, but even then his stomach rebelled at the image of that ravaged body.

Hoss sat in shock. He had always felt that he would know if his brother died. Even when he had been gone for a while, Hoss had a sense of him living. He couldn't believe that his brother could die like this and not cause him pain. He slowly dismounted and took his jacket off wrapping the head and what was left of the torso in it. He was startled to see some movement in the trees and drew his pistol before he realized it was Adam's horse. He walked the fifty yards to where the animal was and found the reins tied to a sapling. It was an odd thing for Adam to have done and made Hoss wonder what had happened. His grief wasn't allowing him to think clearly though. He had seen the stake in the ground near the body but hadn't thought too much about that either. Leading the horse, he made his way back to the body finding Joe standing at the wrapped corpse unable to speak or move apparently. Using the bedroll that had been on Adam's horse, Hoss wrapped the body up thoroughly and placed it over the saddle of Adam's horse. It was only then that Joe spoke.

"Hoss, how can we tell Pa this? How can we tell Zona? Oh, my God, what about Gabriel?"

"Joe, we're gonna have to tell 'em, but we can't let them see this. I'm gonna take him to Doc Martin's office. I want the doc to do his best for him. Then he's gonna be put inside a casket and it's gonna be sealed. I don't ever want no one in the family to have to see what we saw. Now, you can come with me or you can go home and tell 'em what happened."

Quietly, Joe helped Hoss secure the body on the horse before mounting up and waiting for Hoss to do the same. Then just as silently, the two brothers rode to town with Hoss leading the horse carrying the body. As they rode into town, they drew a lot of attention. By the time they got to the doctor's office, there were probably twenty people trailing behind them. Several times voices called out asking who the dead man was but they got no answer from the brothers. At the doctor's office, they untied the body from the horse, and Hoss carried it into the doctor's office as Joe opened the door for him and then closed it firmly behind them. Doctor Paul Martin had been bandaging a patient and hurried to finish when he saw Hoss holding a body in his arms. After the man left with his arm in a sling, Paul looked to Hoss.

"Who is it, Hoss?"

"It's Adam. We found him this morning. I can't take him home to Pa and Zona looking like he does. I want you to do the best you can for him, and we'll get a casket for him. I want it sealed so Pa and Zona can't see him like this. I don't want nobody else to see him like this."

"Hoss, what happened?"

"I don't know for shur, but somebody shot him in the face with a shotgun. It was real close. You can see some of the pellets yet. Then they left him out there like that and a cougar got at him. It's awful, Doc, and I'm gonna go see the man who done it."

Sheriff Roy Coffee had stepped into the office and heard the conversation. "Hoss, you weren't there. How could you know who done it." Roy was in some shock as well. Adam had been almost like a son and had been a very dear friend and ally.

"That Burnside feller threatened our family two days ago. We just never thought he would do something this awful and this soon. Adam never had a chance."

"Hoss, that may be true, but we got no proof, do we? I mean, is there any evidence to back up that Burnside had him killed?"

"We don't need any evidence when we know what happened?" Joe was getting furious now.

"Now, Joe, your Pa is gonna have more than enough grief. You don't think he wants to see his other two sons hanging for murder, now do ya? You take care of your family, and I'm gonna get right on this. Doctor Martin can take a look at the body and see if he can tell us anything about what happened. I'll go talk to this Burnside fella, and you two head on home. Your family needs you now more than ever." Roy could see that Hoss and Joe were reluctant to do as he suggested so he added one more point to his argument. "You know Adam would have wanted to give the law a chance. Now, wouldn't he?"

Joe was still too upset so Hoss was the first to speak. "All right, Roy, we'll do it your way, but ifn you don't find out who done it and get them up on that gallows where they belong, then Joe and me are gonna have to take care of it."

"Hoss, we'll get them. Don't worry about that because I'm gonna do everything thing I can and then some. Whoever murdered your brother is going to pay the penalty. I'm guaranteeing that."

"Me and Joe are gonna stop at the undertaker's place and get him to building a proper casket for my brother. You be sure that he's sealed up in that before my father can get to town demanding to see him. Is that clear?"

"We'll make sure, Hoss. I understand." Although Roy didn't completely understand then, he did when he saw the body as Doc Martin got busy. It was nearly an hour later though that Paul came hurrying to him with news. He pulled Roy away from some people he had been questioning and whispered to him.

"Roy, keep your voice down and don't react to what I'm going to say. Roy, it's not Adam."

Doing his best to follow Paul's instructions, Roy was still shocked at what he had heard. "What? His own brothers thought it was him."

"Roy, if you saw your brother in that state on your property with his horse nearby, and he was wearing all the right things, how close would you look to be sure?"

"I guess not so close. But how can you be sure?"

"Come over to my office. I don't want to be overheard. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make us believe that was Adam. Now come with me, please."

Once they were at the doctor's office, Paul showed Roy the three things that he found to be convincing, and Roy had to agree with that assessment. "Now I gotta ride out to the Ponderosa and tell 'em. It's gonna be a shock but not a lot better one than they're getting right about now."

In the old mine, Adam wasn't doing very well either. He suspected very strongly that his abductors had wanted the man they had taken out of this mine to impersonate him, but as the man seemed as mystified as he had been, he thought too that the man was an unwilling accomplice to whatever plan these men had. He had recognized the man called Baxter in the group of men who had abducted and stranded him in the mine so he knew that Burnside was involved. He couldn't see how his abduction was going to help Burnside achieve his objective unless he was being held for ransom, but then the imposter didn't fit into that idea at all. He had lots of time to think though as he worked through what he knew of the puzzle.

For survival, he stood about every fifteen minutes and did some lifting and other activity to warm up but not enough to sweat because that would have helped cool his body and that he did not want. As soon as it got light enough in the morning, he began using the pickaxe head to try to damage the chain that bound him to the ore cart. He guessed that if he had a few days, he would be able to break one of the links and free himself. There was probably more metal deeper in the mine that he could have used, but he only had about six feet of chain so that was the radius of how far he could reach.

Adam was facing a quandary though. He needed to be awake at night to fend off any potential predators who wanted to come into the mine by banging on the ore cart, but he needed the light to try to break a link in his chain so he needed daytime for that task. He finally decided that he should sleep in the middle of the day when it was unlikely he would face any threat. Then again in the very early hours of the morning, he could sleep again as predators would have found their pry and sought out shelter by that time. That schedule still gave him quite a few hours to work on that chain. He had the bucket of water, but without food, he wasn't sure how long he could keep up his whole routine, and to stop doing any of it would likely mean his death.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Adam can't be dead. How can you be sure?" Ben felt faint and had to sit. Hoss guided his pale and shaking father down into a chair on the porch.

"Pa, the body was a mess, but it was all Adam's clothing, and his pistol, and boots. His horse was tied off nearby."

Once again Hoss was reminded of the unusual knot that was used to tie the horse to a sapling. He knew Adam almost always ground tied his horse unless there was a significant danger, but then he would have taken his rifle, but that had been untouched in the scabbard. It was an anomaly that he couldn't explain. Joe came to comfort his father but needed it as much as he was willing to give it.

"Roy's coming out here later, and I'm gonna take him to where we found him. Somebody killed my brother, and they're gonna pay for it."

"Killed?"

"Yeah, Pa, somebody shot him in the face. That's why we didn't bring him home. I brought him to Doc Martin. Pa, I never want you to see him the way we saw him. I told them I wanted him in a casket that was closed up tight."

"Hoss, I have to see him. I can't let him go without seeing him."

"Hoss is right, Pa. You don't want to see what we saw."

"How are going to tell Zona?"

"Tell me what? What's happened? Why are you back without Adam? What don't you want your father to see?" Zona had heard the horses come into the yard, and when no one came into the house, she went out to find them. She had heard enough to know the news was bad. When none of them could bear to say a word, she knew. "Oh, my God, no. Why? He was so happy. Why?"

Bess came outside then having heard the crying. "Rosalind is watching over the boys. She's got the baby too so Joe if you could go help her, that would be wonderful. Perhaps you could take the boys up to Gabriel's bedroom and try to keep them busy for a while?" Bess comforted Zona as much as she could while Hoss tended to his father.

Hop Sing came out and was informed of what had happened. He adopted a stone-faced look and went to get some tea, but Hoss was sure he needed a towel for his eyes as much as anything. Then Hoss repeated some of what he had said to his father telling Zona that the body was at Doc Martin's office and that Sheriff Roy Coffee was coming out to investigate. He reiterated his earlier statement that the men who had done this would face justice. The way he said it left no room for doubt. They were all sitting on the porch yet when Roy Coffee rode into the yard. They had been expecting him but not the almost cheerful expression he had. Ben was almost going to issue a scathing remark when Roy's words penetrated.

"It's not Adam. Doc took a good look at the body, and it ain't Adam."

"Roy, how could he tell? Me and Joe thought it was Adam."

"Hoss, it looks a lot like Adam, and it is Adam's clothes and such, or at least it sure looks like it is, but Doc found some things that told us it wasn't Adam. For one, Doc took off them boots and unless Adam's feet shrunk a lot, those weren't his feet. We know that Adam has long feet but the body in there has feet more the size of Doc or me. Next, we know Adam got shot in the left shoulder years ago, but despite what was done to that body, the left shoulder wasn't touched and there's no scar there. Last, Adam didn't have no tattoo on his upper left arm, did he? This body had a date tattooed on his upper arm. My guess is that whoever it was had been locked up somewhere at some time, and that was how they identified him. Doc was gonna keep checking, but you can bet that ain't Adam on his table."

"Roy, where is Adam then?" Shaken by all that had happened, Ben needed time to calm himself and start thinking.

"Ben, now that's what I been pondering on the whole ride out here. We ain't told nobody in town that we know it isn't Adam. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to make us think it was. I don't know what's going on here, but I surely do want to find out. Now Hoss, you said you could take me to where that body was found. I think we oughta do that right now."

"I want to come along."

"Zona, I don't think that's a good idea." Roy was clearly surprised.

"Roy, someone should go with you. Zona, I would like to go too, but I think Joe is the logical one to send. He can track almost as well as Hoss and Adam. He would be a bigger help than you or I could be. Let's go tell the others what we know, and let Joe and Hoss go with Roy." Ben knew how upset Zona must be. He felt the same way, and he wanted to find Adam too but knew he wouldn't be much help in a search. He needed to let those who had the best chance of finding Adam do it.

"Send Candy too then. They need all the help they can get to find Adam." After Candy had survived the avalanche and had helped Adam to survive that, she had a lot of confidence in the foreman.

"Ben, I wouldn't mind a bit more help, and Candy was a scout. He could probably be a big help to us."

"Pa, Roy, I think we got something to do first. I think we oughta go get that body in the casket and haul it out here. Somebody wanted us to believe Adam was dead. Let's let 'em think that while we look for him. The best way to do that is if Joe and me go get that casket."

"Hoss, you're probably right. Ben?" Roy looked to Ben for confirmation. Ben nodded. They were in the midst of some conspiracy, and he had a good idea who might be behind it all.

"Yes, Roy, but it might be a good idea if we have someone start watching Burnside. He made a barely disguised threat against us two days ago, and now Adam is missing. It seems likely he's responsible for this somehow."

"All right. Let's go to town to get that casket, and then Hoss, I want to head on over to where you found that body. We need to check that out before it gets dark or rains or something. Our only clues are probably there."

A few hours later, Roy stood with Hoss, Joe, and Candy where the body was found. They had gotten the casket from town and driven it to the Ponderosa so that whoever was watching would think that they had been fooled. Hoss noticed what he had been trying to remember. He had been in such shock when they had found the body that he had not analyzed the situation. There was a very short stake stuck in the ground and a short piece of bloody rope tied to it.

"Roy, somebody tied something here, and it wasn't that body. There was nothing we found with the body to support that idea."

Standing in thought for a moment, Roy had a plan. "We need to search this area and see what else there may be. Be careful though not to walk through any tracks. We need to backtrack whoever did this." They had tied their horses a good distance from the spot to try to preserve any evidence that might be there as well as tracks they would need to follow if they found them. It didn't take long to find items of interest. Candy was the first to spot something.

"Hey, over here." He directed them to where he was standing and to what was hidden in some brush. It was what was left of a calf that had been attacked by a predator as well as scavengers. There wasn't much left except the hide, but there was also a rope around what had been its neck. "Looks like somebody tied a calf up out there to draw in a predator. Then they put the body in the same spot so whatever it was would mutilate the body for them. Somebody has a real sick sense of things."

"All right, we know some of what happened. Now we need to find out the who. Hoss, let's concentrate on finding some tracks now."

"Roy, I already seen tracks. There's two sets, with one coming in and the other going out."

"Hoss, the ones leaving are probably them going back to town. Let's backtrack the ones that come in here with that body."

Thus began the very slow process of backtracking tracks from the previous day that had been left in a pasture. It was extremely slow going as they had to walk their horses as each track was painstakingly located. They only had a few miles to go to find the mine where Adam was located but had no way of knowing that.

In the mine, Adam was getting weaker without food and with the toll of trying to stay warm with the cold temperatures and no clothing nor blanket to retain body heat. He had water but it must have been contaminated because it had given him cramps and worse. He was losing strength due to that too. He developed a fever and drank more of the water not knowing it was the source of some of his troubles. When he started retching, he no longer drank water. He was feverish but also suffering from hypothermia as his extremities became very cold and he found any movement or thought very difficult. He was also nauseated and dehydrated. He lay on his side in the overturned ore cart and prayed for his family to find him soon. He fell asleep and had terrible dreams.

In town, Adam was the subject of conversation between Burnside and Baxter. "I regret telling you to treat Cartwright so badly. I'm possibly going to need him alive to get what I want. I let my temper get the best of me. He's been humiliated and that's enough. I want you to go to that mine and give him some clothes to wear, a blanket, and some food. Take a man with you and leave him there to guard him as well as to make sure he stays alive. I'm heading out to the Ponderosa to see if grief has been enough to soften up that old coot."

Baxter didn't follow the instructions that he had been given. He had no desire to ride out to that mine to see a filthy, quarrelsome hostage. He sent a man with the blanket, clothes, and food with instructions that he was to guard the hostage and make sure he stayed alive. Then Baxter headed to C Street for a little afternoon entertainment. The man he told to head to the mine decided to have a little pleasure with the ladies before he ended up sitting in that mine watching over a prisoner. He had a bit too much to drink and fell asleep in the painted lady's bed. He had paid well so she left him there to sleep it off. Adam had one more night of cold, isolation, and deprivation to endure.

On the Ponderosa, Ben was standing on the porch where he had been most of the time since his sons had left the house again after delivering the body in the casket. Just the thought that the man in there had been killed after being made to look like his eldest son made Ben very sad. Then he worried that he might still have to suffer through the loss of his son. Zona came out to see him. He could see the tears brimming in her eyes and wrapped her in a hug.

"I got Gabriel to take a nap. He knows something is wrong. He keeps asking 'What's wrong Mama?' And then he asks where his Papa is. He said 'Papa will make you all better.' Ben, he will, but where is he?"

"We have to trust that Hoss and the others will find him. We have to have faith." Zona began crying, and Ben found that was all it took for his tears to flow. Zona rested her head on his shoulder and cried. It was all Ben could do to not cry with her.

It was at that moment that Burnside's carriage came into the yard. Ben turned Zona toward the house and whispered to her that she should alert the others and get to a window so they might hear what was said. Zona wiped at her tears as she looked at Burnside. She looked every bit the grieving widow making Burnside believe that his plan had worked. He hoped to take advantage of them in their sorrow at the apparent loss they had suffered.

"Mr. Cartwright, I know your son told me not to come back, but I have to express my condolences over his death. I heard what happened. Now I have a bank draft for one hundred thousand dollars. If you sign over the Ponderosa to me, you can take your family somewhere safe and away from the dangers of living here."

"I'm not selling now, not today, and not tomorrow, and never for a ridiculously low price like that."

"You would put a price like that on keeping your family safe even after losing such a valuable member of your family?"

"Are you threatening me and mine?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm a businessman. I had only hoped to find you more logical and rational with Adam not here any more. Now, I sincerely hope you suffer no more losses, but there are dangers all around, aren't there? One more chance? Do you want that money?"

Thinking that he needed to know what Burnside had planned, Ben decided to play along to buy a little time. "Perhaps I was hasty. I will talk over your offer with my sons. We'll let you know what we decide."

"That would be a good outcome for all of us. If you agree to the sale, perhaps my men could help in the search for whoever did that to your son."

"We'll let you know."

Smiling, Burnside climbed back into his carriage and told the driver to take him back to town. He was pleased for it seemed that things were working out as he had predicted. As he rode back to town, he wondered how he could get rid of Baxter and the others when he no longer needed their services. He had found that in activities of this sort, there were always such messy loose ends to tie up. He had done it before though so had no doubt he could do it again. It was possible he wouldn't need Adam Cartwright alive to be delivered to his father. He smiled when he decided that if he could, he would enjoy seeing the proud man dead. And then he had it. He would make sure Baxter and the others were held responsible for Adam Cartwright's death. The state of Nevada would take care of those loose ends then by use of the gallows. It was an elegant solution, and Burnside was quite proud to have thought of it. He needed to work out the details, but he was sure he could manage something as simple as that. He spent the rest of the ride thinking about what he needed to do.

Ben walked inside to talk to his daughters-in-law. Zona was furious and Bess almost as much. "That bastard was insulting to Adam even as he offered his so-called condolences. He said he heard Adam was dead, but no one told him that. The only way he could make that statement was if he was the one behind it all."

"Now, let's try to keep calm, ladies. We don't want to upset the boys. We can talk about it, but please try to make it sound like any other ordinary conversation we might have."

Bess got a slight smile from Zona with her comment. In a very sweet voice, she asked a question. "You mean like should we shoot a sidewinder rattlesnake right in the privates for talking like a two headed diamondback?" Ben shook his head. His sons had chosen wives very well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Roy and the others had to give up the search as the waning sunlight made it too difficult to see any tracks at all. They agreed to meet back at that spot at dawn. When Hoss, Joe, and Candy returned to the Ponderosa empty handed, Ben told them about Burnside's visit.

"I just can't tell what he is up to. He could hold Adam for ransom and demand the Ponderosa as payment, but I guess he knows that legally such a transfer wouldn't hold up in court."

"Why is that, Pa?"

"If I was coerced into signing away the Ponderosa, we could go to court claiming duress and almost surely get it all back while Burnside would go to prison for extortion. No, he's more clever than that. I wish I knew what he was thinking."

"Maybe he wanted to get you so upset or scared that you would sign away the Ponderosa willingly."

"So you think he wants us to think that Adam is dead so that I'll take his offer and leave before any more of the family are killed?"

"Pa, Joe might be right. But how's he gonna let Adam be free afterwards without us figuring out what he did?"

"We heard him." Zona and the ladies had been listening. Zona continued. "He told Papa that his men could help search for Adam. They would find him of course because they know right where he is. Then he would look like a hero instead of a dirty black-hearted snake."

"I have an idea of how to work this against him, but we would have to do this fast. We don't know where they're keeping Adam nor what condition he's in." Ben looked at Joe. "Tomorrow morning as soon as it's light, you head to town and send Hiram out here with his clerk."

"Pa, he never goes to his office before eight or nine."

"You'll go to his house. Tell him it's urgent and to get out here as soon as he can. Make sure he brings that clerk of his and a lot of paper. Then tell Roy what's going on. Wait until ten and then tell Burnside that we're ready to agree to his terms. Ride back here before he can get here. I have some things that you'll need to do."

"Pa, what ya planning?" Hoss knew his father was scheming. Joe and Adam weren't the only ones in the family who could come up with a plan or a scheme. His father was good at it too. Ben nodded in response to Hoss' question and then informed them of what he planned. It had some risk involved but not too much. It would force Burnside's hand and give them their best chance to find Adam quickly, and hopefully it would be quick enough. The ladies all agreed that the plan was a good bet. The next morning, Hoss headed out to meet Roy to continue tracking. Joe headed into town to complete the errands that his father had set. The ladies did their best to care for the children without letting them know how worried they were. Everyone was armed and prepared for the worst but hoping that wouldn't happen.

Out in the pasture, Hoss, Candy, and Roy were continuing the search. Roy had brought Clem and another deputy, Jeb, to help. "Roy, that looks like a man riding from town and heading in the same direction as we are." Hoss had been leading the others for two hours. They waited in a small copse of trees until that rider got closer.

"Hoss, now that looks like one of those men who's with that Baxter feller who works for that Burnside. Ever since you told me about the threats Burnside made, I've been thinking back to men I've seen with him. There ain't been many. He goes to his lawyer's office and the bank, but several times I've seen him greet that Baxter. Now far as I know, Baxter doesn't seem to do any work, but he always has money to spend on C Street."

"So you think Baxter works for Burnside and that this man works for Baxter?"

"That about sums it all up. We need to follow this man. Now Hoss, you and me can keep tracking. Candy will follow that rider. He don't seem to be paying much attention so I'm thinking Candy can get pretty close and not lose him. He won't even know he's there. Clem can go with Candy, and Jeb will stay with us."

"Then what?" Candy wasn't sure what to do next.

"I'm thinking we're gonna end up at the same place. Ifn we don't, well, we'll work on that if it happens." Within about thirty minutes, Roy was proven correct. Candy told them that the man had walked into a mine so they quietly and carefully headed in that direction. They all assumed that Adam was in that mine and didn't want to do anything to spook the man who had gone in there. Hoss was in the lead as they neared the mine entrance. What he heard made him hurry.

"Get up, and get dressed, ya damn fool. I brought you clothes and such, but I ain't touching ya so you better do as I say." The man was in a sour mood with a hangover, and now finding their captive unresponsive, he was worried about what Baxter might do. He kicked Adam hard in the leg trying to elicit a response from him. "Now do it! I'll kick you again if ya don't do what I say."

"I think if you try it, you'll find your backbone shattered and you in a heap on the floor. Now ease that pistol out of your holster and don't give me no reason to pull this trigger." Hoss had his pistol pressed against the man's back.

"Mister, I don't know who you are, but I got orders to follow, and if I don't, I'm dead anyway so you better just shoot."

"No, Hoss, don't shoot. I'd rather have him in my jail and getting ready to walk up them gallows steps."

"What, no, I didn't kill anybody. He's still alive. Look, see, he's still breathing."

"Clem, get him out of here and tie him up." As Roy pulled the man toward Clem, Hoss dropped to his knees beside Adam and found that he was still breathing, but his face was pale and hot while his arms and legs were extremely cold. Hoss saw the chain and barely held his temper in check. He reached for the blanket that had been dropped beside Adam and spread it out and ease his brother onto it pulling the blanket up and over him. "We're gonna get you outta here and all warmed up, Adam. You just gotta hang on a bit." Hoss stood and walked out of the mine to where Clem had just tied the hands of the man behind his back. "Where's the key?"

"Ah, Baxter has the key."

Hoss pulled his pistol again and pressed it between the man's eyes. "Try again."

"Hoss, now you can't shoot him with him all tied up like that. I'd hate to have to arrest you for murder."

"Roy, there's no jury in Virginia City that would ever convict me. He's got Adam naked and chained in there. He treated him like an animal. I need to get that chain off him so I can get him home." Turning his attention back to the man standing shaking in front of him, Hoss gave him one last chance. He cocked his pistol. "Where's the key?"

"Baxter's gonna kill me if I hand it over. I didn't do that to your brother. It was all Baxter's plan. He gave all the orders." Knowing it was hopeless to resist, he finally answered. "It's in my right coat pocket. Baxter gave it to me so I could get him dressed. He was going to come out here by noon to check up on him. He's gonna be really mad. You don't know what he's like when he's mad."

Hoss reached into the pocket and pulled out the key. "Mister, you ain't got no idea what mad is until you seen me mad. My Pa is likely to want to tear you limb from limb, so you don't need to worry no more about Baxter. You got to worry about me and my Pa and my brother Joe. Candy, untie him. I'm gonna need his coat, vest, and boots for Adam."

"Mister, you can't do that to me. It's freezing out here." Almost as soon as he said it, the man knew that he was going to be very cold very soon. He waited silently until Candy untied his hands. Roy kept his pistol trained on the man as he stripped off the items that Hoss wanted. Then Candy tied his hands again before carrying the clothing into the mine.

When Candy got inside the mine, Hoss was on his knees rubbing Adam's arms and then his legs trying to warm him. As soon as Candy brought in the clothing, the two of them got Adam into the shirt and pants the man had brought and then added the vest, coat, and boots. Hoss wrapped the blanket around Adam before lifting him and carrying him out of the mine. He laid him down on the soft grass and in the sunlight.

"Roy, I'm gonna use this man's horse to get Adam home. I think you should chain that bastard in the mine while you wait for Baxter. He should be along soon. Candy, would you ride for home. Tell Hop Sing to get a warm bath ready, and let everybody know that we found him alive." Adam moaned a little then letting Hoss know he was regaining consciousness. "Adam, it's Hoss. I'm gonna get you home, don't you worry none about that."

"Water." It was hoarse and soft but the plea was very clear. Hoss grabbed his canteen and tipped it to Adam's lips letting him have a big drink. "So cold. So hot." Hoss' eyes glistened with tears at Adam's simple complaints.

Once Adam had a bit more to drink, Roy and Clem helped Hoss get him into the saddle. Adam didn't seem to be in any pain, but he was very weak and dizzy. Once seated in the saddle, Adam closed his eyes and dropped his head to his chest. Just that exertion had taxed him significantly. The men carefully tied a rope around his waist and secured it to the pommel to help him stay in the saddle. Hoss took the reins to lead the horse and with a gentle voice told Adam to hang on to the pommel too. Once he saw Adam grip it as well as he could, he nudged Chubb to get moving and kept Adam's horse right beside him. Then riding just that way, Hoss began the slow ride home.

After questioning the man they had in custody, Roy learned his name was Randy. He named four other men who followed Baxter's orders. Roy sent Clem to town to round up those men who had been part of the conspiracy to abduct Adam. After hiding their horses, Jeb joined Roy in the mine as they waited. Roy warned Randy not to say anything and not to make a sound when Baxter arrived and approached the mine entrance. "After what you all done to Adam, I might have to put a bullet in ya to shut ya up. Besides, it would be another charge for you to face if you do anything to get in the way of us arresting this Baxter. Now, is that clear enough to ya?"

Randy nodded, and over the next hour quietly told Roy everything he had done and everything that he knew that Baxter had done. Randy had never met Burnside, and Baxter had never mentioned the name. Roy knew that legally that was going to be a problem. He knew as well as the Cartwrights knew that Burnside was behind all of the trouble, but unless Baxter talked, they had no proof of Burnside's involvement. He hoped to take Baxter into custody soon to get an incriminating statement that could be used to arrest Burnside. It would still be a tough sell to a jury with only the word of a criminal, but with the circumstantial case of things Burnside had said to the Cartwrights, it might be enough. He said a few silent prayers too that Adam would recover. He had looked awful when Hoss pulled him out of the mine, but he had revived somewhat with warm clothing and some water. Roy hoped that it would be that easy for him to recover fully. Roy was grateful that at least Adam had no apparent injuries and wasn't wounded.

On the trail toward home, Hoss worried as Adam was getting weaker and weaker. He had him lean down over the horse's neck but even then, Hoss worried he might slip to the side. When he saw Candy and Griff coming with a buckboard, he wanted to cry. He stopped the horses and began untying the rope around Adam's waist before dismounting and moving quickly to his brother's side as he began to slip from the saddle. Zona was in the back of the wagon, and nearly jumped from it before it stopped once she saw Adam. Soon she was there and wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his dirty unshaven cheek. She would have kissed him on the lips except he turned a bit from her. He had retched enough times that he knew he didn't want to subject her to his mouth at all. He began to feel faint, and it was as if Hoss knew for he took Adam in his arms to carry him to the wagon before he could fall. There was a mattress and blankets in the back of the wagon. Hoss held Adam up as high as he could so that Griff and Candy who were standing in the wagon could lift him into the wagon and lay him on the mattress. Then both jumped over the side to give Zona room. She wrapped blankets around her husband and kissed his cheek again before asking if he wanted some water.

"Zona, just small amounts at a time. I reckon he ain't had enough, but if you give him too much at once, he's likely to retch it up which is worse than not gettin' any water at all. Pa and Joe didn't come with you?" Hoss was very surprised.

"They got some kind of business deal going on with that Burnside. They ain't letting him know that Adam is found until they get him to sign the papers. They looked real busy when we left, but they had to keep looking like they thought Adam was dead too so Burnside wouldn't figure it out."

Hoss had known of his father's scheme to buy time. He was surprised though to hear that he was carrying it out even though Adam had been found alive. He got on his horse and took the reins of the other trailing behind the wagon as Griff and Candy drove it back to the ranch house.

In the wagon, Adam seemed more alert but also was clearly exhausted and ill. Zona told him to close his eyes and rest. He nodded slightly and lay back on the mattress where he soon was asleep. Finally he got a restful sleep with no worries about the cold and no threat of predators. It seemed like he even had a small smile as he laid there in the wagon with Zona leaning against him and holding the blankets tightly to him willing him to get warm again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

At the house, Ben and Joe had completed their work. Zona had signed papers on behalf of Adam, Bess on Hoss' behalf, and Joe had signed his and cosigned the others. Then Hiram's clerk and Joe had taken the papers to town where they had all been duly registered in the land office in town that morning. Hiram and Ben had waited until Hiram's clerk and Joe got back with those documents before they agreed to sit down with Burnside and work out the legal sale of Benjamin Cartwright's Ponderosa to Burnside for one hundred thousand dollars. Burnside had his lawyer there looking over the documents that Hiram had drafted. Burnside looked immensely pleased with himself. He handed over the check when his lawyer nodded that the papers seemed to be in order even though the lawyer had told Burnside that he should wait a day before signing. The lawyer had balked too when there was no description of the land included in the legal papers, but Hiram said that Benjamin Cartwright's Ponderosa was registered in the land office in town so they could get a description there. The lawyer wanted to delay, but Burnside didn't want to delay his victory. He wanted to savor it. He wished he would be able to go to the mine with the men to make Adam Cartwright grovel in the knowledge that his disappearance had led to all of this, but he couldn't take the chance of being implicated in Adam's abduction. Only Baxter tied him to the whole plot, and Baxter could be removed.

Burnside walked outside with the deed in his hand and told his driver that after he got Burnside to town he was to tell the men who worked for Baxter to head out and see if they could find Adam Cartwright. Clem was waiting for that and would follow them with a couple of deputies. Before he left, Burnside had turned to Ben.

"I know you're suffering, but I do need to get moving forward with the business of mining. Now I expect that you will vacate the property within the week. I would like to take possession no later than one week from today."

Ben nodded and turned to go into the house. Burnside was going to say something snide and sarcastic but for once held his tongue. He had his victory over people he considered of much lower status. He decided there was no need to rub it in. Instead, he directed his driver to take him back to town. He thought that he had a lot to do. His lawyer was by his side telling him that they needed to get to the land office as soon as possible.

"Now why would we need to do that?"

"Because I have lived here for almost a year getting those first mine options for our employers, and this deal has shocked me. I never thought I would see the day that Ben Cartwright handed over the Ponderosa for a fraction of its worth. Something isn't right here."

"You give these yokels too much credit. He was grieving for his son. He wasn't thinking straight, and I took advantage of that."

Suddenly very suspicious, the lawyer looked at him sharply. "You didn't have anything to do with Adam Cartwright's disappearance, did you? That could be very bad."

"I did not abduct him nor murder him. Does that satisfy you? You worry too much. The next thing I want you to do is to inform our employers of what I accomplished here today. I got the land they wanted and at about one-tenth the cost. I think I'll tear down that ugly house and build a proper home for a gentleman. Get some people working on that too, would you?"

A short time later, Hoss spotted the carriage headed toward town as he followed the wagon carrying Adam that was approaching the road to the house. Hoss was glad that Burnside was already gone. They could take care of Adam without worry. He pointed that out to Candy.

"Hoss, can I use your horse? Griff can use the other one. I think Roy and maybe Clem could probably use some help. We'll ride back to the mine to help out."

Quickly dismounting, Hoss handed Chubb's reins to Candy who mounted up and waited just a moment for Griff to do the same before the two of them rode back the way they had come. Hoss and Zona heard two gunshots a few minutes later, but it was too soon for those men to be at the mine and the shots were too far away. All Hoss could hope was that it was Roy and Jeb doing the shooting. He rather hoped Baxter had been shot. After what he had done to Adam, Hoss wanted him to suffer. As he pulled the wagon into the yard a short time later, Ben rushed out to help leaning over the side of the wagon and calling Adam's name. Adam opened his eyes and had a small smile for his father. He gripped Zona's hand as she realized he was a bit stronger than when he had first been placed in the wagon. He asked for more water and got it. Then Ben got in the wagon to help Adam to the side where Hoss again took over and carried Adam to the washroom. They got Adam undressed and helped him into the tub of warm water. He eased down in and leaned back with a contented look. Zona began washing his arms, chest, and shoulders as Hoss reached down to feel his legs and feet.

"They're warmer now. Can you feel that?"

"Yes, and stop pinching my toes. That hurts."

"Yup, that's a lot better than at the mine. You hardly even knew I was touching you, and I gripped a lot harder than I did just now."

Ben intervened in the conversation then. "Doc Martin will be here soon. I sent a hand for him as soon as we found out you were alive." Adam grimaced at that news making all of them smile. Zona washed his face and hair then gently rinsing it with cups of warm water from a kettle Hop Sing provided. Ben stepped in to shave his son while Adam was still in the tub. Finally, they had Adam lean forward so they could wash his back. He had some nasty but superficial abrasions there from the ore cart. Seeing those, Hop Sing left and was soon back with salve they could apply once Adam was out of the tub and dry. That was the next step to take.

"I feel rather ridiculous having to be cared for like a child."

"Son, at the moment, you can't do anything for yourself so relax and let us do what has to be done. We'll get you in a nightshirt and robe so you can say hello to your son. He's been very worried about you."

After exiting the tub and getting dry and clothed, and then getting a hug from Gabriel, Adam was helped to his bed where he sat smothered in blankets and propped up with pillows. He found that gripping a spoon and feeding himself was more difficult than he had imagined so he allowed Zona to feed him the thick broth with small chunks of potato that Hop Sing had prepared for him. Gabriel thought that was funny as he sat on the bed and watched. Hop Sing had washed out an old medicine bottle and filled it with water. Adam found that it was easier for him to hold than a glass or cup. He drank several bottles full of water. Each was probably about four ounces. Doctor Martin arrived about then and shooed everyone from the bedroom except Zona.

"Doctor Paul, you didn't need to come out here for me. I feel fine."

"Adam, you look a heck of a lot better than what we thought was you at first yesterday, but you are not fine. I can see several signs that show you aren't fine. You're pale but your cheeks are red. I would guess you're feeling a bit nauseated, but you still want water. You probably are feeling all sorts of prickly sensations in your feet and legs and probably in your hands and arms too. All of that is natural and will resolve soon."

Doctor Martin did a thorough check of Adam from his head to his toes and told him that he would probably feel quite a bit better after three days. Adam groaned at that knowing what it meant, and Zona smiled and assured the doctor that he would stay in bed. Paul wasn't entirely certain that she could manage that, but for one or two days, he expected she could. A short time later, the doctor came out to talk with everyone.

"You have done a very good job with him. He's gotten everything done that needs to be done. Keep him propped up when he's awake so that he doesn't get bedsores."

"Can't he get out of bed?"

"Ben, he ought to stay in that bed for the next three days. He's exhausted from hunger, dehydration, and lack of sleep. It seems he got ill from the water so he's fighting that off too. So, no, he shouldn't get out of bed. If he does, because I know how stubborn he can be, then make him sit in a chair and prop up his legs. Keep him warm at all times. He'll likely chill much more easily after this ordeal at least for the next several months. Now keep the meals very light until he tells you he's hungry for a steak. Then gradually add more normal foods to his meals. You can keep the door open and anyone can visit unless he needs to sleep which might be far more often than you might expect. You know how his eyelids droop when he needs to sleep. Watch for that and keep it quiet then to let him sleep."

"We've had quite a bit of excitement here. Will it be all right if I tell him what has happened?"

"I don't see any reason not to tell him unless something you say is going to make him get out of bed. He's calm enough and seems emotionally strong. He may have a few moments when he feels upset because of what was done to him, but overall, he's doing well now that he's home so no one has to guard what they say around him. All in all, this was a rather nice call on a Cartwright. No bullets to dig out, no stitches, and no splints. It was a rather mundane case for this family."

Doctor Martin had a meal with the family as Zona sat with Adam as he slept. Gabriel wanted to go in to see his father again so Ben brought him in after they ate. He had warned Gabriel that he had to be quiet, but when he knocked softly and entered the room, Adam was awake again. Gabriel climbed up on the bed and sat next to his father. He looked worried until his father smiled at him. Then he looked at his mother who was smiling too.

"See, Mama, Papa make it all better."

Gabriel stayed until he asked his father if they could go out to see the horses. Adam said he couldn't get out of bed but that Gabriel was welcome to stay in bed too if he wanted. Gabriel got a horrified look on his face.

"No, Papa, I have to go. I have to find Isaiah and Little Levi. I think they need me too." With that, he slid off the bed and ran into the main room. Zona excused herself to follow him and to get some food. She had been so busy with Adam, she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and that had been half a biscuit.

"Has Joe gotten over the fact that the two boys named his son Little Levi now that he's old enough to walk and can toddle around with them?"

"He shakes his head every time he hears it, but it wasn't anything we did so he can hardly blame us. Rosalind told the boys they had to be careful around Levi because he was little compared to them so they called him Little Levi. Nothing anyone has said so far has convinced them that they shouldn't refer to him that way. The best part though is that they take him with them in every activity. I thought that because he was so much younger that they might not want him along, but the three are becoming very close."

"As he gets older, that age difference won't matter much. He'll start school in the grade right behind the two of them. Now I've heard hints that something was happening here while I was, ah, detained. You want to fill me in on that?"

After calling Hoss and Joe to join them, Ben explained. "Well, son, for years, you have been telling me that we should organize the Ponderosa into separate businesses so that a threat to one part did not endanger the others. Now I couldn't manage all of that in just a day, but what we did do was split the Ponderosa into five ownerships. You and your two brothers each got about one third of the land as your Ponderosa. I retained all the usufructuary rights. The three of you together retain the mineral rights. We all retained the right to live on the property with all benefits and privileges until our deaths. The option to purchase is given to only to my direct descendents and can be bequeathed to them as well. The Ponderosa is firmly in the hands of the family today and tomorrow as long as the sun shines."

"Pa, what if there are no Cartwrights?"

"Then the land and all rights to the use of it and what's beneath it or growing on it belong to the Paiute."

"So no one can take the Ponderosa away from us?"

"No one. The papers are all on file at he land office. Hiram has assured me that the papers on file are enough to stop anyone attempting to get the ranch from us because it would be a legal nightmare to even try."

"What about Burnside?"

Joe was happy to intervene there. "Pa gave himself that Potter property we bought just to help those folks out so they could go back to Indiana. You always said that it wasn't worth the taxes we had to pay on it. Well, no worries about that anymore. That was Benjamin Cartwright's Ponderosa according the deed in the land office. Pa signed it away to Burnside for one hundred thousand dollars. Burnside walked out of here thinking he had gotten the ranch, but all he got was one thousand acres of worthless bottomland. There's no water on that land most of the year, and I'd be shocked if there's any gold or silver."

Adam was worried though. "What will Burnside do when he finds out he's been tricked? We've seen what he would do when he wasn't mad."

"That's where we're hoping that Roy can take care of the rest. He's waiting at the mine with Jeb, Clem and some men will follow Burnside's men there, and Candy and Griff rode out to help him. We're waiting for news. If they can arrest the men working for Burnside, then they can arrest him too." It was clear that Ben was worried too, but there was nothing more they could do at this point. "I do know that none of us should leave the ranch without an armed escort, and we need to keep up our guard here as well."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Burnside stood in shock unable to believe what the lawyer was telling him. "What do you mean I threw away one hundred thousand dollars? I bought the Ponderosa. How can that be a waste of money?"

"You bought the property described in the legal transfer of deed as Benjamin Cartwright's Ponderosa. According to records in the land office, that is one thousand acres of land. I asked and got a map and information. It is desert and rocks. It is flat land not suitable for raising cattle or growing trees, and most likely has no gold or silver or any other type of mineral wealth on it either. You have been thoroughly scammed by Ben Cartwright." The lawyer resisted the urge to tell him that he had told him so and had urged him not to sign the documents. Burnside had created quite a disaster for himself, and the lawyer knew he could distance himself from it, but he was shocked by the man's next move.

Burnside pulled a pistol then and pointed it at the lawyer. "You must have been in on it. Why didn't you know this before you let me sign those papers?"

Sweat beaded on the lawyer's lip. He was beginning to get the idea that Burnside was capable of anything including murder, and knew he should not just distance himself from what Burnside had done but from the man himself. He had a reputation for getting the job done, but their employers probably didn't know the true character of the man they had hired. "I did try to dissuade you from signing those papers. I told you that Ben Cartwright is no fool. Even in his grief thinking his son was dead, he wouldn't be foolish. He didn't act very grief-stricken either. I'm sure there was more going on that we didn't know. We can try to challenge the sale in court to get the money returned, but I have doubts that any court here in Nevada would side with us."

"The corporation could send its lawyers in here and tie them up in knots in court."

"And they could hire lawyers and do the same to us."

"They can't afford to do that."

"Maybe Ben can't, but Adam could. He's one of the wealthiest men in the west. He sold mining interests in Australia for a fortune. He has some business interests in other countries as well from what I've heard."

"That two-bit cowhand who dresses like a gunfighter?"

"You never did listen to me nor did you do your research. You made some assumptions based on how these men looked. Adam has been to college, lived on several continents, and is quite an international businessman. He's also killed people so he doesn't just look like a gunfighter. His father worked in shipping before coming here to build the Ponderosa. He was nearly made governor of this state at one time, and he is friends with most of the important politicians and judges in this state and in California. You chose to treat powerful adversaries as if they were yokels. Our employers are not going to be pleased to find what you have done."

Noise and commotion in the street drew their attention as Burnside put his pistol away. They looked out the window to see five men being taken into the jail. Burnside scanned them thoroughly but didn't see Baxter among them. There was a blanket wrapped body lying across the saddle of a horse. The horse looked like the one Baxter rode so Burnside had to assume that his only connection to the kidnapping of Adam Cartwright was dead. If not, he was going to be in even more trouble. As it was, he was likely to be questioned. His lawyer saw the sheen of sweat on Burnside's face and suddenly knew that he had been the one behind the abduction. He needed to get out of this town and back to California as quickly as possible. He didn't think he had long to live if he stayed in town. He excused himself and went to his room where he began to pack. After the lawyer left, another man stepped into the room.

"Well, you may get that revenge on Adam Cartwright after all. First I need that lawyer eliminated. He knows too much, and I think he just guessed a bit more. See to it, Poole."

Poole nodded and left the room. He found Burnside distasteful as an employer, but he was a useful means to an end as well as the source of significant income over the past year. Poole would do as he said and then return to find out how he could get revenge on the Cartwrights especially Adam after so many years of dwelling on the memory of his humiliation in this town. No one had recognized him here for he now had a neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper beard, was a dozen years older, about forty pounds heavier, and had taken to dressing as a businessman with a three-piece suit and matching hat. It allowed him to move through rapidly growing communities like this one without drawing any undue attention. He could have been a banker, a lawyer, a clerk, an investor, or any number of other men by the way he was dressed. So he was as nondescript as if he dressed like a miner or a cowboy. He wore a pistol but so did many businessmen and that did not set him apart either. When he rented a horse to ride for the day, no one questioned him. Such requests were very numerous and as common as someone ordering a meal in a restaurant or taking a room at the hotel. Hundreds if not thousands of such transactions occurred in cities like Virginia City every day and drew no one's interest.

That is, he drew no interest except from Roy Coffee who exited his office after having five men locked away securely, one body sent to the undertaker, and now had planned a visit to question Burnside. Roy saw Poole walk down the street from the hotel and thought that he looked familiar. He didn't remember why, but his curiosity was aroused. He watched until the man left the livery stable and rode out of town to the west. He had no supplies and no bedroll so he was likely planning to be back by evening. Roy planned to keep an eye on him then. Clem had stepped out beside him to ask if he should go along to interview Burnside.

"Roy, that man looked familiar, but I don't remember a name."

"Clem, I was thinking the same thing. You see him again, you keep an eye on him. Something tells me he's up to no good. I can't give you a reason why. I just think it."

Having seen the wisdom of several of Roy's gut instincts in the past, Clem nodded. "I'll go with you to see Burnside. We don't know him well enough to know what he's capable of doing. He may be that rabid dog that gets real dangerous when cornered. If he isn't, I'll be quiet and be a witness to anything he says. All right?"

Roy nodded and began walking to the hotel. He preferred working alone, but everything that Clem had said made sense. He knew he could trust his deputy to do as he said too. Within a few minutes, he was knocking on Burnside's door. The man wasn't there or at least he wasn't answering the door. Roy turned to go but Clem watched and could see that a shadow had moved through the light that shone under the door. He motioned to Roy to watch. Soon it moved again. Roy went back to the door. "Now, Mr. Burnside, we know you're in there. I got a few questions to ask ya. Why don't you open up now, and we can have ourselves a nice peaceful little talk."

The door opened and Burnside asked what they wanted. "I was taking a bit of a nap and had no idea it was you, Sheriff Coffee. If I had known, I would have answered immediately. Now, how can I help you?"

"Well, first off, you can tell me how you knew that supposedly Adam Cartwright was killed. Only me and Doc and Hoss and Joe knew that, but you rode on out to the Ponderosa saying he was."

"Supposedly? Well I guess I must have heard it here in town as I went about my business. The two brothers brought in a body, and then they came later with a wagon to pick it up. Now they wouldn't likely have looked so grief stricken if it had been hired help who had been killed, now would they?"

"Mr. Burnside, you don't know the Cartwrights very well ifn you think that. No, Adam is alive and the man who was behind it all was a man you've been seen with, a man named Baxter. Now can you tell me what you and him was doing together?"

Shocked a bit to find that Adam was alive and Baxter was dead, Burnside managed to conceal his feelings. "Ah, he agreed to hire men for me to ride out and deliver messages and such. I don't ride, and carriages simply don't go everywhere I needed to have things delivered. Baxter and my driver took care of hiring men and seeing that they got work done as I needed it done."

"Like having him kill a man and make it look like it was Adam Cartwright, except that Adam was chained up in a mine and nearly done in by the way he was treated? That kind of work?"

"Now, wait a minute. You cannot accuse me of such skullduggery and mayhem. I am a respectable businessman with no need for such brute tactics. I take care of business using my skills and my intelligence, sir, and have no need to have any such illegal acts done to achieve my ends. In fact, I purchased the Ponderosa today without any such tactics as you describe. It was all done in a very civilized manner."

Shocked, Roy had to say something. "Ben Cartwright would never have sold the Ponderosa unless it was to save a son or other member of his family. It isn't possible."

"Indeed, people say that, but here is the document showing that I have purchased Ben Cartwright's Ponderosa for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. I know that amount of money may be well beyond your experience, but I assure you that he and his family can live quite well without working for the rest of their lives. Now, I planned to go to the land office to get a legal description of my property so I can send all the information to my employers."

"Well, now, I wouldn't mind walking there with ya. We'll see what they got to say."

So Roy was there when Burnside got the confirmation of what his lawyer had told him. He was furious, but he managed to disguise it well or so he thought. When Roy began chuckling, Burnside had to say something. "Well, that is a shocker to find that Wendell Llewellyn Burnside has been bamboozled by a local yokel. I guess my employers will not find it amusing however. I shall have to talk with my lawyer about a redress of this grievous tort that has been perpetrated."

Clem was looking out the window of the land office. "You better hurry. It looks like he's heading out of town."

Burnside moved to the window to see his lawyer climbing aboard the stage much as he had expected when he told Poole to take care of him. "I'll be hiring a new lawyer, I see. He must have realized how badly he erred in these negotiations in not giving me proper legal advice. I'll see that my employers are informed of his incompetence. Now gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I have to find myself another lawyer."

Roy waited for Burnside to cross to the other side of the street. "He's furious. I gotta wonder what he's gonna do next. Now I have to ride out and talk with Ben and the boys. They need to know that I can't arrest Burnside. I'll be back tonight. You keep an eye on Burnside and watch to see if he and that other man we saw earlier get together at all."

"Roy, how dangerous do you think this Burnside is? I mean, he did his best to try to conceal how he was feeling but the red in his face and the sweat on his lip gave it all away."

"Clem, very dangerous. He had a man killed just to try to trick the Cartwrights into thinking that Adam was dead. A man who can order a murder like that has no heart. He'll do the devil's own bidding. Keep a sharp eye. There's going to be a lot more trouble before this is done."

In his room, Burnside sat down to pen a lengthy letter to his employers making sure that all blame for what happened fell on the lawyer who soon would not be able to dispute anything he claimed. Burnside trusted that Poole would take care of that for him. What he needed was a plan to get the Ponderosa, to eliminate the Cartwrights as impediments to that as well as to get revenge on them for his humiliation, and to make sure that all of the credit went to him without any of the blame for any illegal acts performed. Poole was the wild card. He was obviously much smarter than Baxter had been, but there was a cool detachment about him that said more than anything that he only did what was best for Poole. In a tight situation, Burnside would not be able to rely on him. He needed someone who would be loyal to him no matter what. He finally settled on one person and decided to send him a telegram asking him to come to Virginia City to help. After all, what good were brothers if you couldn't call on one to help when you needed it most.

On the Ponderosa, Adam was finding that was very true. His brothers made sure he was comfortable and safe. One was always in the house and armed even though they knew there were perimeter guards and lookouts. Neither of them was going to let any more harm come to their brother. Ben had to smile as he watched them. His sons could argue often and had even come to blows on occasion, but each of them was like a mother hen when one of the others got hurt. He could see Adam chafing under the constant attention, but he was too weak to refuse the help walking and getting things he wanted. All of them were a bit on edge wondering what had happened at the mine, and if Burnside had finally been arrested so they could relax.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Roy was not looking forward to a visit to the Cartwrights as he normally might, but this was no Sunday visit with one of Hop Sing's dinners to enjoy. He had to give them some bad news, and they had already had a lot of trouble to handle. He couldn't get the picture of the murdered man in Adam's clothes out of his mind, and he couldn't imagine how Hoss and Joe would ever be able to forget it. As he rode, he thought about Burnside and what he might do next. None of those thoughts was reassuring. When he got to the Ponderosa, Hoss and Joe came outside hoping that he had brought the news that Burnside was in jail. Instead he had to disappoint all of them.

"I couldn't arrest him. The one we needed was Baxter, and he decided to draw on us even though we already had our guns trained on him. I guess he knew he would hang, and he took that last desperate chance because it was all he had. We arrested five other men. The one we arrested first, Randy, gave us enough to charge them, and then the other four couldn't wait to tell us more until we had all we needed. They'll get convicted. The judge could sentence them to hang because of that man's death, but they all agree that Baxter done the killing. They'll all probably get prison time for what they done."

"Who was the man they murdered to make us think my son was dead?"

"We don't know. No one in town has reported anyone missing. He was probably drifting through or worked in one of the mines but had no family and no close friends. They said they found him in a saloon where he had too much to drink courtesy of the men who murdered him later. He was the right height and coloring so that's how they picked him. Poor fella never knew what the cost of those drinks they bought him was going to be."

"So what do we do now, Roy. We all know that Burnside isn't going to let this go. Pa humiliated him, and Joe and Hoss managed to get me back alive. He won't stand for it." Adam was sitting in the blue chair wrapped in a blanket with his legs up on pillows on the table and also covered with a blanket as Zona sat at his side. Listening attentively, Rosalind and Bess had the boys playing quietly while Hoss and Joe sat with Ben discussing with Roy the danger to the family.

"Adam, I think that too. We all need to come up with a plan for whatever we think he might do. It's gonna be hard because there are so many things he could do. One thing that I think we need to remember is that he targeted Adam and wanted all of you to think he was dead. There was no need for him to treat Adam so badly. For some reason, he seems to have a special dislike for you, Adam. Now everybody remember that. He may decide to come after Adam if he decides that Adam's survival was somehow a personal failure of his."

"Roy, I think we need to know more about him. We need to investigate him and find out his history. He didn't start these brutal tactics here. He must have done things like this elsewhere. First, we should hire detectives to scour his past. We should bring some of them here to work undercover to find out who he sees and where he goes. We could have some here by tomorrow night possibly if we sent the telegrams today."

"Adam, that could get right expensive."

"I can afford it, Roy. Don't worry about that. Hoss and Joe know men in town we can trust. They should probably hire a few more tomorrow. I'll use my contacts and bring in some detectives."

Ben added more. "I have some people in mind too. I'll contact them and ask them to help."

"Ben, you need to be real careful too. It's gonna be hard to protect all of you. That Burnside is a crafty one. He had Baxter working for him, and I'm betting he's got other men like that working for him too. We gotta figure out who it is and watch them too. It ain't gonna be easy."

"Roy, we know that. We'll be very careful. Now, if we write out the messages and to whom they go, will you see that some telegrams get sent?"

"You know I'll do whatever I can. Now, you got the start of a plan yet?"

Ben nodded and Adam smiled. Roy relaxed just a bit. For the next hour, the family discussed what they might do, what help they could get, and what Roy could do to help. By the time they finished, they had the rough outline of a plan, but it depended on Burnside acting in a predictable way. Roy was nervous about that because he didn't think he was that predictable.

"Roy, he went after me despite knowing how risky it could be. He apparently knew little about me, and then even less about Pa. He will likely try to learn more now. By following that, we can find out what he wants to know which should give us clues into what he's planning to do."

"I sure hope you're right, Adam. He lost Baxter's crew so it may take him some time to reorganize. I'll be watching for any strangers coming into town now."

"Roy, some of them will be friends of me or friends of Adam. How should we let you know who's who?"

"We need a signal and it can't be too obvious."

"We'll take care of that and let you know. I think we've talked enough now, and Adam needs to get some rest." Ben had seen Adam's eyelids drooping. Zona smiled at him because she had seen the same thing. The two of them got Adam into the bedroom as Hoss and Joe walked out with Roy to bid him goodbye.

When Roy got back to town, he found that there was more trouble. The stagecoach had been held up by one man who had demanded that the passengers disembark and hand over their valuables. He shot one passenger, a lawyer, when he said they weren't cooperating fast enough or well enough. The driver had been shocked by the sudden violence. He drove the stage and passengers back to Virginia City after the armed robbery and murder. The dead man was wrapped up in a tarp and carried back to town on top of the stage with the luggage. Clem was with the stage passengers and driver as Roy arrived. He pointed at the body.

"It's the lawyer we saw leaving town today. Somebody seems to be cleaning up loose ends. One man held up the stage. He didn't get much. He killed the one man and then left. The driver said it appeared that he might have known the man who was killed, and that he didn't do anything to deserve getting shot. I'm thinking this was more of an assassination than a robbery."

"What kind of description do you have of the one who did it?"

"About my height but with graying hair and heavier. He was wearing a white shirt and dark gray pants. That's all we got because he had a bandanna over his face and no hat, no jacket. Oh, and the man you asked me to watch arrived back in town about a half hour before the stage got back."

"Where did he go?"

"To the hotel. I haven't been able to find out anything more as I've been questioning the passengers and the driver trying to get some information that might help."

"You finish that. I have some telegrams to send."

"How's Adam?"

"He's weak and tired, but otherwise all right. I'm worried though. There was no reason for him to be treated so badly. Seems that same someone you mentioned earlier probably has a grudge against him. He needs to be especially careful, but now that he knows, he should be. It was a bad idea for him to go to Carson City alone knowing there was a threat against the family. He'll be more careful now. When he gets back on his feet, there may be someone who regrets that he did that to Adam. Ben pulled a fast one too so I told him straight out that he better be watching his back as well."

"Yeah, Roy, I think you're right. Adam goes a lot by that saying that revenge is best served cold. I bet he's already started planning something. And you don't hurt one of Ben's boys and get away with it. He's probably planning too."

"They have. Most of these telegrams are from Adam to people in California and one Ben wants sent too. Within a few days, they're gonna have some help here and things going on elsewhere."

In the hotel, Burnside and Poole were talking. Burnside was watching out his window as the sheriff and the deputy talked next to the stage depot. They hadn't moved from there and seemed very calm so he had to assume that Poole was correct in his assessment that they did not suspect him of any wrongdoing. Burnside turned to Poole.

"I never should have trusted Baxter with such an important task. He messed it up. You're a professional. I want you to hire other professionals. They will only have contact with you. I want no direct contact with me and do not mention my name to any of them. They will be paid well. I have to make a pretense of following legal channels, but I think that will eventually be how I set up the final blow."

"I can't contact anyone from here. I can hardly send telegrams to the men I need. I'll move to Placerville or if I have too, I'll go to Sacramento. I'll be gone for a week at least. I'll make contact with the men I need, and when I have it all arranged, I'll be back. I'll need some money to advance to the men I hire. They aren't coming here on a promise."

"How do I know you won't take my money and not come back?"

"How did you know I would come when you sent the money to me the first time?"

"That's fine. It's going to take some time to set up the trap here. I've sent a letter to my employers detailing how the lawyer made a mess of the negotiations with the Cartwrights and wasted one hundred thousand dollars. I want them to give me access to a larger amount so that it appears I am seriously working to purchase timberland for the lumber needed in the mines. I'll also have a new lawyer here soon to take the Cartwrights to court over the sham deal Ben Cartwright managed to do. It will never hold up in court, and it will make them vulnerable too because they'll have to leave that ranch of theirs to make an appearance in court. When that happens, I want you to be ready."

Poole nodded and left the room. He packed his bags, bought a ticket for the stage, and headed to Placerville. He checked out the town and decided to move on to Sacramento to hire some men. More than once he had considered leaving this job. Burnside paid well, but he had an arrogance about him that was very irritating. He thought much too highly of his skills too. Poole was a realist. He knew what they were up against, but the pay was exceptionally good, and if he got some revenge on the Cartwrights, it would be even better. He decided he needed a plan though if things went sour as he knew they might. He did find a professional gambler in Sacramento who was handy with a gun. The man said he knew of several others that he could summon to help. Poole told him to go ahead and contact them. He met them several days later and could tell they were professionals. None shared last names, and all had skills with firearms that were as good or even better than his own. They didn't talk much, and when they did, it was all about business. Poole liked that. He sat down with them and made a plan for one or two of them to ride in on the stage over the next few days. He told them where to take rooms. He thought that Burnside would be happy with the men he had hired.

In Virginia City, Roy got a telegram informing him that the man hiring men for Burnside was none other than the gunfighter Poole. He knew then why the man had seemed so familiar. As men came into town on the stage, Roy watched and thought he had sighted every one of the men Poole had hired. He rode out to the Ponderosa to have a talk with the Cartwrights about the force being assembled against them. What surprised him the most was that Ben and Adam and the others didn't seem that worried. He knew that there was something going on that he didn't know so he had to ask. He was pleased with the answer and rode back to town much more at ease than he had been on the ride out to the ranch. He had seen new men on the Ponderosa as well because they were still taking security precautions very seriously. As Poole was hiring men, so was Will Cartwright and sending them directly to the Ponderosa.

In town, coming from the east, the stagecoach brought in a new lawyer to work with Burnside to try to invalidate the contract that had been signed buying one thousand acres of worthless land for one hundred thousand dollars. The judge ordered the money held in escrow until the case could be heard. Ben agreed to that, and the money was put into a separate account. Then Ben and his sons were summoned by subpoena to testify before a judge as to what had happened.

"Pa, this is likely it, isn't it. That varmint has got his trap ready to spring, and he's raring to go, ain't he?" Hoss was worried despite all the precautions that had been taken.

"Hoss, now remember, it's all worked out. We have many people prepared to step up and protect us. You have to trust that the plan will work. If you do anything to spook Burnside, he could back off, and then we would be back to not knowing what to expect from him. Adam and I are probably his prime targets to start, so if he does something to separate you and Joe from us, you have to let it happen. All right?"

"I don't like it. I don't like us being split up. You know what they done to Adam when they had him." Hoss couldn't get that picture out of his mind from the day he found Adam naked, cold, and chained to an ore cart. He hated the thought of Adam and of his father being held by the same man who had orchestrated that situation.

"Hoss, I know you don't like it, but we have planned for almost anything."

"Pa, it's that darned 'almost' that has me worried."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The ride to town was relatively quiet as each man was lost in his thoughts but at the same time surveying the area all around for threats. They had sent hands ahead to any high points along the road so that there could be no attack from a distance. They fully expected that something was going to happen knowing by then the number of men that Poole had hired and sent to town to work for Burnside. Roy and Clem had been watching and reported that they had been inactive since their arrival making it clear they were waiting for orders. As they neared Virginia City, Joe let loose with his irritation at the whole situation.

"I don't know why Roy didn't just arrest Burnside. We all know he's behind it, and now we know he's hired men to come in here to back him up. We know it was Poole who held up that stage and killed that lawyer. We know all of this, so why can't Roy just arrest him?"

Ben tried to calm his youngest son. "Joe, Roy told us the reason. So far all we can prove is that Burnside's lawyer was killed, and that Baxter worked for Burnside. We can prove he brought men into town. But what we can't prove is that he has committed any crime. Knowing it and proving it are two very different things."

"Joe, we'll have enough proof soon. He's going to make a move against us, and we have lots or people ready to help us. Burnside will find you don't come after the Cartwrights and get away with it. Not today, and not tomorrow." Adam was on edge because he suspected that whatever was going to happen was going to happen that day.

"Yeah, Joe, them men that Will sent are some of the best. And we got more help in town." It helped Hoss to be able to state some things that were positive instead of dwelling on the negative unknowns.

The four continued into town and nothing happened. They tied their horses at the hitching rail outside the courthouse and walked toward the building. Adam was getting even more on edge. "I keep waiting for something to happen. I guess they'll try it after the hearing, but it feels like a have a target on my chest."

"More likely on your back the way this Burnside operates. Let's get inside and see how the judge stands on this." Ben led his sons into the courthouse. The hearing went about as Hiram had advised them that it would. Ben was the one to answer most of the questions.

"So you thought your son's freedom hinged on you making a deal with Mr. Burnside?"

"Yes, your Honor, I did, but I had time, just enough time, to set that deal up to be advantageous to us and not to Mr. Burnside. In fact, I set things up so that no threat to my family would allow such a scheme to be perpetrated ever again."

"I object for my client, Your Honor. There is no evidence that Mr. Burnside was part of any scheme related to this situation. He has already said what he was doing, and it is slanderous for Mr. Cartwright to continue with these veiled references to nefarious dealings in which my client supposedly engaged. He is trying to distract this court from the complaint of fraud brought against him."

"Counselor, this is a hearing. I am trying to ascertain if there is enough merit in your complaint to take up time with a trial. Now, Ben, ah, Mr. Cartwright, did you or any representative of yours ever tell Mr. Burnside that he was getting the whole Ponderosa for the amount of money proffered?"

"No, Your Honor, in all of the negotiations, we were very careful to refer only to Benjamin's Cartwright's Ponderosa."

"Did you have a description of the property available for Mr. Burnside and his lawyer?"

"Your Honor, we did not have time to have that ready. But we did tell him and his lawyer that it was available at the land office. His lawyer advised Mr. Burnside to wait before signing the papers, but he refused that advice."

"Did you, other than by omission, make any effort to mislead Mr. Burnside as to what he was purchasing?"

"No, Your Honor, we did not."

"Did Mr. Burnside or his attorney ask any question of you that you did not answer truthfully?"

"No, Your Honor, we answered every question posed, but I have to say there were almost no questions asked."

"I think this is very clear. Mr. Burnside rushed into a business deal without having all the facts at his disposal and made no significant effort to ascertain any of the facts relating to the property he was buying. Mr. Burnside, I find no merit in your case. You made a foolish mistake, and there is no one to blame for that except you. _Caveat emptor_, Mr. Burnside. The case is dismissed with prejudice. It may not be filed again." Turning to the Cartwrights as if Burnside was no longer worthy of his attention, Judge Clermont had a question. "Adam, are you fully recovered from your ordeal?"

"Yes, Your Honor, thank you. As you know, with Hop Sing in the house, there's always some noxious preparation disguised as tea that makes you want to get better as fast as possible."

"That man is certainly an excellent cook though. I look forward to the next invitation to dinner."

"Judge, why don't you plan on Sunday dinner with us? Hop Sing usually makes fried chicken for Sunday dinner at this time of year."

While the Cartwrights chatted with the judge, Burnside left the courthouse with his lawyer who was not at all pleased with what he had heard. The lawyer was much more astute than the one he had replaced however, and did not share his concerns with Burnside saying instead only that he was leaving town as there was nothing for him to do there. He went to his hotel, packed his bags, and headed to the depot. He wanted to get out of this town as quickly as possible. Burnside suspected that he ought to get rid of this lawyer as well, but Poole was busy as was his brother. He decided to deal with the other parts of his plan first, and then he could send Poole after the lawyer to get him before he had a chance to send a report to the east.

As the Cartwrights left the courthouse, they split up. "Hoss, will you and Joe take the horses to the livery and water them. Adam and I will join you there after we go to the bank to get that money out of escrow and into our accounts. We'll get cash too because we've got a lot more men to pay."

"Pa, you think that's smart, splitting us up like this?"

"I'm not sure, Hoss, if it's smart splitting us up, but at least he can't get all four of us in one action. Keep your eyes open. You never know what he may try pulling at this point."

As Hoss and Joe took the horses to lead them to the livery stable, Ben and Adam walked the opposite way toward the bank. They never arrived. Anticipating that move, Burnside had men to force them into an alley. It seemed as if they were fine and suddenly there were six men around them and some had guns drawn but held so that no one would see anything out of the ordinary. Their pistols were taken. Up close, they recognized Poole.

As they were forced to walk down the alley, Adam had a question for Poole. "You've fallen pretty far, haven't you, Poole. Doing dirty work for money now?"

"Well, that may be your fault. Who wanted to hire a gunman who could be outgunned by a damn cowboy?" Poole shoved Adam into a warehouse then. It was their apparent destination. Adam tripped and fell hitting his head, but Ben was quickly there. He held a handkerchief to Adam's head.

"It's not bad. Hold this there and the bleeding should stop."

"He's going to have a lot more bleeding to worry about in a few minutes if you aren't cooperative." Burnside had entered the warehouse by its front entrance and was waiting for them.

"Burnside, what do you want? Can't you accept defeat and leave?"

"Oh, no, Cartwright. I have another plan. You go get that money from the bank and hand it over, and you sign some papers giving me the Ponderosa and everything on it."

"I can't do that. My sons have legal rights to the Ponderosa."

"Pa, don't do anything. He plans to kill all of us. He thinks he can beat the Paiutes in court. He very well might be able to do that."

Burnside backhanded Adam. "Shut up." The next sound they heard was gunfire from down the street. "There you go, Cartwright. You only have one son left. Would you like to say goodbye now or later. Your grandsons are still alive, but that won't be true soon if you don't agree to what I said. Now it's too late for your sons, but you can still have your grandsons if you're agreeable." Despite the cut on his forehead and a bloody lip, Adam seemed remarkably calm for a man about to die. It unnerved Burnside a little. "Why are you acting so damn superior? You're about to die. I should have had them kill you instead of just holding you in that mine. Baxter was a damn fool too. He did all right setting up your disappearance. Dressing that man in your clothes and having his body savaged was all my idea though. Pretty good plan, I think. But then things didn't go right with the men that Baxter hired to do my work, and that lawyer wasn't much better."

"No, I don't think I'm going to die today. Roy, you got enough?"

Sheriff Roy Coffee stepped into the warehouse. "I got enough. Burnside, you're under arrest. I got you for all sorts of crimes, and I got plenty of witnesses to what you admitted."

Burnside pointed at Roy and the Cartwrights. "Poole, shoot them! Shoot all three of them!" There was no response from Poole, and that made Burnside turn on him angrily. What he saw though made him freeze. One of the men Poole had hired had a gun in Poole's back. He turned to his other men, and saw that two of them had guns on the other three.

Adam just had to smirk. "Burnside, meet three of the best undercover men Pinkerton was able to provide us. My stepbrother Clay Stafford, who's a professional gambler, was more than willing to help out in Sacramento by having Poole hire some of the Pinkerton men for us. We owe a debt of gratitude to the sheriff in Placerville who warned the local toughs not to work with Poole. Our cousin Will sent men to work on the ranch to help us as well as full descriptions of all the men Poole hired for you. Those shots you heard earlier were probably the other ones working with my brothers to take down your other men. It's all over now. Filth like you can't defeat the Cartwrights. Not today, not tomorrow."

"Well, you may have to eat some of those words. You didn't get all of my men. I can tell you what I planned. It doesn't matter. I can only go to the gallows once. You may have beaten me, but you're going to find you paid the ultimate price. I have men on the Ponderosa to eliminate your families if I don't show up owning the whole thing or my brother may have gone ahead to do that work without hearing from me."

Adam jumped to his feet and looked to his father who had a similar horror-stricken look on his face. They had underestimated the evil of this man. He planned to kill women and children out of a desire for pure vengeance. The Pinkerton men handed over their pistols. One of them helped Roy to take the prisoners away, and the third volunteered to ride with them. Hoss and Joe showed up then with big grins that turned to fearful grimaces as they heard and then all five men raced to the livery stable. They rode as hard as they could pushing the horses to the limits of their endurance. On the faster horses, Adam and Joe arrived in the yard first. There was a body laying in the yard covered by a blanket. One of the windows of the house was shattered. There were recent bullet marks in the front door and another body covered with a blanket. Stepping into the house, Adam and Joe froze with guns drawn shocked by the scene in front of them. Bess was rocking Isaiah and Gabriel. The boys had their heads down on Bess' shoulders and seemed calm enough. Rosalind had Levi on her lap and had apparently already lulled him into sleep.

"What happened? Where's Zona?" Adam asked the only two questions he could.

"Zona is in your bedroom. She got shot." At Adam's look of shock, Bess had to talk fast. "It was just one pellet, but it hit her in a very important spot. It seems Rosalind needs a bit more practice with that shotgun. Zona can't sit, but she can tell you what happened. We got these boys to calm down. It was pretty upsetting to them."

By then Ben and Hoss had arrived and heard what Bess had to say. Joe put a hand on Rosalind's shoulder as he passed letting her know everything would be all right. In the bedroom, they found Zona resting on her stomach on the bed as Hop Sing finished pressing a large wad of cloth on the left side of her bottom. He pulled a sheet up to her waist as the men arrived.

"We heard gunshots and guessed that someone was attacking the ranch. Now the only reason we could think of for them to do that was to get us or to get the boys. We set up to be ready for them. We closed the shutters. Bess took the front door. Hop Sing had the kitchen door. We got the boys into the corner of the alcove, and I had the window there. Rosalind was supposed to back up anyone who needed it. It all worked out well except when Bess had to reload, and I moved over to the front door. That man laying in the yard is the one I shot. He started running toward the house when Bess stopped shooting. Then another one rushed the door after I fired because he knew I had to reload and must have guessed that Bess was reloading too. That's the one laying in the doorway that Rosalind shot, but she didn't wait for me to get out of the way. That's how I got shot. Hop Sing said it's only one pellet, but I have to tell you it feels like a cannon ball hit me."

"Hop Sing, did you have to shoot too?"

"Yes, Mr. Cartwright. I shoot two with one shot. They come to kitchen door with guns. They not dead. They tied up in bunkhouse. The men go look to see what happened to men who were watching. They afraid they dead."

"What about the hands we left here to help?"

"One of Burnside's men got hired here. He held the hands at gunpoint in the bunkhouse. He got a bit distracted when Bess yelled out the door that we needed some help in here. That's when they got him. The man in the stable keeping watch winged one of them who rode out of here when the others were shot. That man got shot, but Hop Sing said it's not bad. He won't be able to work for a while. So there are three to take to jail, and at least two to bury with one who got away."

"Nope. He didn't get away. We caught him. He's Burnside's brother. I sent two of the hands to take him to town so Roy can lock him up too." Candy had come up behind the family to report what he had found. "We lost one of the lookouts. They shot him in the back. The other lookout was wounded, but it's a leg. He won't be working for a while yet either."

Adam had knelt down beside the bed and was holding Zona's hand. She suddenly realized he had blood on his shirt. "You're hurt."

"It's just this little cut on my forehead. I'm fine. How do you feel?" Adam couldn't help smiling a little.

"I'm, oh, are you laughing at me for getting shot in an unmentionable spot. Don't you dare smile at me for that. It hurts."

Ben and the others wisely backed up and left the room. Ben pulled the door closed. Soon there were no more complaints coming from the bedroom so they all assumed that Adam had made up with Zona. There were bodies to be taken to town for burial, two men to be taken to jail, and a window and door to fix that kept them busy the rest of the day.

It took a couple of weeks for the boys to get over the trauma and start thinking of it as a great adventure. They thought their mothers were heroines for what they did. It took Zona about that long to be able to sit comfortably. It took Rosalind that time to get over the embarrassment of shooting Zona in the behind. Joe decided that she needed a lot more lessons in firing a weapon.

The Cartwrights had to testify in the trials of the men in jail. All were convicted quickly with the amount of evidence against them, and Burnside and his brother were sentenced to hang. The others including Poole got twenty years to life in prison. Adam was the only one to attend the execution. Burnside wetted himself as he walked toward the gallows steps and had to be carried up the stairs as he nearly fainted looking up at the two nooses hanging waiting for them. Once up there with a rope around his neck, he looked in the crowd for someone to save him. He heard taunts of 'pissy pants' but no friendly faces as the hostility of the crowd was apparent. He saw Adam Cartwright who tipped his hat at him. Then Adam turned and walked away hearing the trapdoors release and then the unmistakable sound of two bodies stretching rope and swinging slightly in the breeze. He wasn't a great proponent of the death penalty finding it abhorrent for a civilized society, but in this case, he could find no reason whatsoever to keep those two men alive. He rode home to tell his family it was over. Of course he didn't want to admit to himself that trouble for the Cartwrights was never over; not today, not tomorrow.


End file.
